The American Self

From 1870 to 1900 New York had extraordinary diversity. It had lawyers, architects, engineers and entrepreneurs of every nationality. By 1900 almost three quarters of the city’s population had Italians, Germans, Poles and Jews from Hungary, Romania, Russia, and Eastern Europe. They came for the opportunities in America, as these immigrants stayed they would eventually change American culture.

During this time there was a lot of fraud and corruption which contributed to the impoverishment of the working class. Unexpected events caused economic hardship. In September 1873 a Philadelphia banking firm failed and it caused many banks to shut down and even the New York Stock Exchange closed for ten days.

Many Americans had no jobs during the 1870s and business owners began to pay less for labor since they had an oversupply of employees.
 

         Sayre, Henry M. Discovering the Humanities: Second Edition. 2010. Textbook.